China awards first 4G licences

China has awarded its first licences to mobile phone companies to provide the superfast 4G network to customers.The licences, which are designed to give mobile phone users faster access to services, were granted by the government to China Mobile, China Unicom Hong Kong and China Telecomm, BBC reported.The move is expected to boost business for a range of companies, from telecom equipment makers to Apple.China Mobile is expected to offer 4G to subscribers from 18 December.It will be followed by China Unicom and China Telecom, the country's other two major carriers.Apple iPhoneThe new licences are for the TD-LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks. This is different to the FDD-LTE standard used to provide 4G data connections in many other parts of the world.That means most smartphone owners will not be able to switch between 4G networks when travelling in and out of the country.It does, however, pave the way for the country's biggest operator to support the iPhone.China Mobile's 3G network was based on a different technology to its rivals and was not compatible with Apple's handsets. However, its 4G network will work with the iPhone 5S and 5C, providing the US firm with the potential for further growth.The country's bestselling three smartphone makers are Samsung, Lenovo and Coolpad, according to a recent report by the consultants IDC.It said Apple came in sixth place after its market share slipped to just 5% in the April-to-June quarter. But it suggested that figure would "remarkably improve" once the firm could target China Mobile's hundreds of millions of customers.The government also issued China Mobile a licence to operate fixed-line broadband services, adding the company to existing providers China Unicom and China Telecom.China is the world's biggest smartphone-using country, with 1.2 billion mobile phone users. ANN.Az